A CHANGE IN ALTITUDE by Anita Shreve

***3/4

Reviewed for Hachette Book Group 

Thank-you Miriam  

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Hardcover: 320 pages

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (September 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316020702

Synopsis

Margaret and Patrick have been married just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Margaret quickly realizes there is a great deal she doesn't know about the complex mores of her new home, and about her own husband.

A British couple invites the newlyweds to join on a climbing expedition to Mount Kenya, and they eagerly agree. But during their harrowing ascent, a horrific accident occurs. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Margaret struggles to understand what happened on the mountain and how these events have transformed her and her marriage, perhaps forever.

A Change in Altitude illuminates the inner landscape of a couple, the irrevocable impact of tragedy, and the elusive nature of forgiveness. With stunning language and striking emotional intensity, Anita Shreve transports us to the exotic panoramas of Africa and into the core of our most intimate relationships

My View:

Having read every book written by Anita Shreve, I have my favorite and not so favorite.
With A CHANGE IN ALTITUDE the author choses a different style than found in her previous novels. There are three parts to this novel. Part one had me hooked, it was what I expected of Anita Shreve. The short crisp sentences which bring us ever so gently to a climax, in this case a tragic accident.


Part two takes us away from her usual style. If you like a lush description of Africa, Kenya in this case you will like this novel. The human factor Anita Shreve is so well known for is still there, the complicated transition which takes us from an early marriage to a more settled life between a husband and wife, men and women who enter those lives, disturbing their idea of marriage is all there to be found. Except somewhat lost in a travel log type of narration for which I did not care much.


The protagonist Margaret, a photojournalist through who's eyes we vew this novel is a newly married American woman on her first trip to Africa, accompanied  by her husband Patrick an equatorial physician.
Very quickly their lives will change, an accident for which there might or might not be blame.
I found Margaret a little anoying never quite figuring her out to be good wife to Patrick or not. Patrick on the other hand becomes quite an annoying individual as the novel progresses.


Part three takes us back to the style I like in her novels and we are in for a cliff hanger.....

I rate this novel a 3 3/4 only because of some lengthy passages in part two which might be interesting to some readers. I would rather read a shorter novel who's thread is not interrupted.